Cameron 'heaps shame' on runaway dads

'Beyond the pale': David Cameron's comments coincided with Father's Day

Ben Stansall: AFP

British prime minister David Cameron says absent fathers should be stigmatised by society in the same way drink-drivers are.

In a newspaper article published to coincide with the UK's Father's Day, Mr Cameron said "runaway dads" should have the "full force of shame ... heaped upon them" for their actions.

Calling for a new drive to bring fathers back into the lives of all children, Mr Cameron said even when parents were separated, fathers had a duty to support their children financially and emotionally.

"They should be looked at like drink drivers, people who are beyond the pale," he wrote.

"They need the message rammed home to them, from every part of our culture, that what they're doing is wrong - that leaving single mothers, who do a heroic job against all odds, to fend for themselves simply isn't acceptable."

The Labour opposition says the PM is being disingenuous, and says his policies are making life harder for single mothers by charging them to use the Child Support Agency.